Konoha: Rebuild the glory of the Uchiha

Chapter 153 Biao, having drifted for half his life without encountering a wise ruler, is willing to take the Hokage as his godfather!

"Sir Ninja, our village doesn't have any precious food, only these bananas. Please don't find them unappetizing."

At lunchtime, a gaunt old man with a fawning smile, perhaps due to years of hard work, carefully offered a banana, his eyes darting to Audebiao, who was bound up like a caterpillar.

This Odebiao is up to no good. He led Uchiha Nan to a room in the base. The room had secret passages and carefully prepared traps, showing that he had always left himself an escape route. No wonder he was a fence-sitter who could maneuver between three ninja villages during the First Shinobi World War. But with such an absolute difference in power, these little tricks were nothing but self-inflicted humiliation.

"Odbiao, my patience has its limits. If you don't behave yourself, I'll have to consider finding another partner. I'm sparing your life only because you're capable enough. Don't be ungrateful."

Uchiha Nan smiled and spoke in a friendly tone, but Audebiao couldn't help but shudder. He knew that if he tried anything funny again, he would die a terrible death!

Who exactly is this young man? Which second-generation member of Konoha is he, traveling incognito to gain experience and enhance his resume?

The ninja guards around him are all incredibly powerful!

Audebiao nodded vigorously, pondering Uchiha Nan's identity. A nobody like him would never have the chance to get to know the Hokage of Konoha.

"I'll tie you up for a bit first, to teach you a lesson. You'll go hungry!"

After finishing speaking, Uchiha Nan ignored Audebiao, turned to the old man in front of him, and gestured for the old man to find a place to sit down and share the bananas on the table.

"It tastes good," said Uchiha Nan after peeling a banana and taking a bite.

The old man stood nervously by his side. The sight of Odbiao in his caterpillar form greatly shocked him; the high and mighty Lord Odbiao was actually bound up like this.

Uchiha Nan chatted casually with the old man, trying to make him feel as relaxed as possible. He wasn't some monster or heinous villain; he had come to the Land of Grass to bring democracy and freedom!

The old man had never traveled far in his life; the farthest he had ever been was to the nearby market. He had spent most of his life tending to the bananas in the fields of this village.

When Uchiha Nan started talking about his experience in growing bananas, the conversation turned to the realm of the elderly, and he talked at length about his experience in growing bananas over most of his life.

"Has your village always grown bananas?"

"It's not just our village; all the surrounding villages grow bananas. My father grew bananas, my grandfather grew bananas, and my great-grandfather grew bananas."

"Then you must come from a banana family."

The old man couldn't understand the meaning of "clan," but he could tell that Uchiha Nan was praising him. A smile appeared on his face. This ninja is quite nice. He speaks softly and knows how to praise people!

"Where are bananas usually sold?"

"We don't sell much; we mostly eat them ourselves. There are banana growers all around, so who would buy them? Besides, bananas are hard to store, and they're easy to get robbed if you try to sell them. You could lose your life in no time. The third son from the next village brought a group of young people and loaded several carts of bananas to the market. In the end, only a few of them escaped back."

The old man spoke with a sigh, saying that it was already difficult enough to survive, and he had no hope of making a fortune by selling bananas in this lifetime.

"Have you considered selling bananas to the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth?"

"You jest, sir. How could that be?"

The old man shook his head repeatedly, finding Uchiha Nan's words utterly incomprehensible. The Land of Grass was already a vast country for him; to sell bananas beyond the Land of Grass to other countries was simply too far-fetched.

"That day will come."

Uchiha Nan made a promise to the old man, and after a brief exchange, the old man walked out the door.

After enduring so much hardship and sleeping outdoors for so long, Uchiha Nan decided to stay in this village for a few days to rest and plan his next move.

The Grass Villages are scattered throughout the Land of Grass, and Uchiha Nan plans to conquer them one by one. It will just take more time. The most important thing is to establish a trade system for the Land of Grass.

Since the Land of Grass is suitable for growing bananas, let's just plant bananas all over the Land of Grass. Whether it's a new factory, animal husbandry, or anything else, all these industries are heretical.

A huge market, stable sales channels, and convenient transportation. Uchiha Nan locked himself in his room and wrote down keywords on a piece of paper. Only by combining these could the Land of Grass be revitalized.

Konoha alone probably can't do it. This is the Land of Grass, with a huge population and vast territory. Konoha can't possibly eat that many bananas.

It seems we need to bring in more people—the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village), and Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village). We need to get them all involved. When something good happens, we have to get everyone involved.

It's hard to do something well, but it's all too easy to ruin something. Instead of worrying about these big ninja villages causing trouble, we might as well work with them.

With the three giants of the ninja world backing them up, the rest of the smaller ninjas are not worth worrying about.

Konoha's influence can also extend to the national level through this opportunity. To date, Konoha's industrial products still need to be connected with the Daimyo to have sales channels and the opportunity to go abroad.

The title of Daimyo is more useful in the entire ninja world than Konoha. The Daimyo have been deeply involved in various industries for many years and have a strong foundation. Konoha is committed to transformation and wants to become economically independent, or even dominate the economy of the entire Land of Fire, and even the economy of the entire ninja world. Combining military strength and economic strength will make the rest of the transition a natural process. Relying on only one powerful force will eventually lead to a stumbling and difficult journey. We still have time, so there's no rush!

As Uchiha Nan scribbled on the paper, a brand-new contract was born—Konoha United Fruit Products, a company that would dominate the Land of Grass for many years to come.

Invading the Land of Grass by force would be utterly pathetic. Not only would it give Konoha a bad reputation, but it might also cause an unnecessary war. A harmless company that helps everyone make money would seem less repulsive.

However, the decision-making power of this company must belong to Konoha, which also requires the support of Kusagakure. Konoha and Kusagakure went to great lengths to establish the company first, so no one could say anything against it.

Uchiha Nan looked at his masterpiece, smiled, and then had a good night's sleep.

The next day

Uchiha Nan brought the contract to Odebiao, who was still being bound by the tortoise shell technique. He had forgotten to untie him before going to sleep the night before. Now Odebiao was crawling on the ground like a caterpillar, exhausted, cold, and hungry.

"Odbiao, your luck has come. I wonder if you want to become a hero."

"In no mood."

Freed, Odbiao flexed his wrists, shaking his head repeatedly at Uchiha Nan's question. Heroes die quickly, mere tools in the hands of insects.

"Okay, let's change the question."

"Do you desire inexhaustible wealth, supreme power, and beautiful women?"

Uchiha Nan felt he should talk to Odebiao, this rough guy, about practical matters; lofty sentiments couldn't fill an empty stomach.

Audrey nodded repeatedly. All he had struggled and worked hard in the Land of Grass was for these things. As for rebuilding the Grass Village and making the Land of Grass prosperous, you need a good-sounding excuse for everything you do.

"very good."

"Now you have a chance to change your destiny. I don't know if you want to seize it."

Uchiha Nan took out the contract and handed it to Audebiao, who carefully read it over. Hmm. He couldn't understand it. Even though Audebiao was already a minor leader in Kusagakure, he still couldn't understand the complicated contract that Uchiha Nan had written on the paper. Shareholders, legal persons, equity structure, dividends—these professional terms were beyond Audebiao's knowledge.

He was semi-illiterate, and his only advantage over other lowly soldiers of the same rank was that he had studied in a private school for two more years and hadn't been sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder too early.

"can't read?"

Excellent, it's good that you don't understand it!

"It's okay, you just need to sign."

Of course, Odbiao wouldn't sign so easily until Uchiha Nan revealed his identity—the Third Hokage of Konoha!

Although Ao Debiao cursed and swore at the Great Ninja Village, if the higher-ups of the Great Ninja Village really took a liking to Ao Debiao and wanted to cultivate him to become a traitor in the Grass Ninja Village, then Ao Debiao would definitely swear allegiance.

Unfortunately, being from humble beginnings, he didn't have a sugar daddy willing to support him before meeting Uchiha Nan, so all he could do was curse!

He, Audrey, isn't that bad! Why doesn't anyone have a sugar daddy willing to pat him on the back?

Although he had never heard the saying "murderers and arsonists are granted amnesty," Audrey understood the principle: he had to first win over a group of followers by shouting slogans and making a name for himself before any investors would be willing to fund him!

"I am willing to offer my loyalty to the Hokage!"

Ao Debiao surrendered with unusual speed. Having wandered for half his life without finding a wise ruler, he wished to take Uchiha Nan as his adoptive father.

Uchiha Nan rejected this shameless guy. It turns out that his previous arrogant demeanor was just an act, but that doesn't matter anymore. A good Kusanagi is one who obeys.

Audrey quickly signed the contract and humbly asked Uchiha Nan for clarification on its meaning.

Uchiha Nan was naturally generous with his advice, as this contract was originally a win-win situation. Even the people of the Land of Grass would make a fortune. Well... at least for the next few years, that's for sure. Maybe the benefits could last for more than a decade, but Uchiha Nan couldn't guarantee that much further.

Uchiha Nan drew up a blueprint for Odebiao, proposing to sell the bananas from the Land of Grass to various parts of the ninja world. The land of the Land of Grass is fertile, and the bananas grown there have a unique flavor. Furthermore, a large number of skilled banana farmers have swept away the trashy, rogue ninjas, and scoundrels from the Land of Grass. The Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind will collectively fund the construction of roads and centrally purchase the bananas.

Simply put, it's a company with various shareholders: Konoha, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and you. The people of the Land of Grass only need to focus on growing their specialty, bananas; they don't need to worry about anything else, just wait to collect their sacks of money.

Audrey was only vaguely aware of what Uchiha Nan had said about counting money in sacks. He was one of the company's shareholders.

Odbiao, who had little formal education and no experience in managing a country, would naturally not have considered how terrible it would be for a country to have only one pillar industry.

But that's all more than a decade from now. Why think that far ahead? Who knows how far Uchiha Nan will push productivity to by then? Maybe they'll have already left Earth and started growing vegetables on the moon.

Uchiha Nan believed that his future self would have a solution. At this moment, the people in the Land of Grass, suffering terribly, were not thinking about their lives a decade or two from now. Perhaps by then, their graves would be overgrown with grass three feet high. In those days, the average lifespan in the Land of Grass was still less than thirty years, or even less than twenty-five. The old man from yesterday looked old, but when Uchiha Nan inquired further, he was found to be less than thirty-five. Labor really does age you.

"Will this work?"

Audrey was suspicious. Bananas were commonplace in his life, and he had never worked in any related industry. He was a ninja who only knew how to fight and kill, earn money by carrying out missions, and occasionally work part-time as a bandit or gangster to make some extra money.

"Odebiao, you're a roughneck. You have no idea how expensive transportation, storage, and security costs are these days. Once these problems are solved, the profits from just selling bananas will be enormous. For the Grass Kingdom, it's facing a virtually unlimited market!"

"Just wait to count the money!"

Uchiha Nan spoke with absolute certainty, and Audebiao nodded repeatedly. Surely the Third Hokage of Konoha wouldn't lie to a mere leader of Kusagakure. He had really hit the jackpot.

The Land of Grass will prosper under my own leadership!

With that in mind, Audebiao felt perfectly justified in becoming Uchiha Nan's guide, revealing all the strongholds of the Grass Village scattered throughout the Land of Grass, and offering "advice" to Uchiha Nan about which places were weakly defended and which places were too crowded to conquer, telling him everything in detail.

Uchiha Nan was very satisfied with this, saying that he had not misjudged Odebiao, that he was exactly the kind of talent he wanted, and that Odebiao truly understood the bigger picture.

While resting in this small village, Odebiao was helping Uchiha Nan with his strategy for conquering the Land of Grass. Uchiha Nan even inquired about the Six Paths Treasure that had been circulating in the Land of Grass—the "Box of Bliss".

Odbiao had heard of it, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. The story of the Chest of Bliss had been circulating in the Land of Grass for a long time, with all sorts of versions. It was said that as long as you obtained the Chest of Bliss, you could unify the world, have your wishes granted, obtain endless wealth, and gain immortality. It was described as being as omnipotent as Aladdin's lamp.

But Uchiha Nan knew that the Box of Bliss contained a powerful demon named "Satoru," who could withstand the combined fire of Konoha's elite forces, as well as the Eight-Tails and Naruto in Sage Mode. In fact, the final plot was that Satoru was only resealed due to a plot-driven death.

Damn it, Uchiha Nan doesn't want to face this kind of monster. Who knows what price we'd have to pay to defeat it? This evil weapon of mass destruction must be properly stored by Konoha. We have another reason to destroy the old Kusagakure!

Hozuki Castle hadn't been built yet at this time, and no one knew where the Chest of Bliss was. Uchiha Kusanagi planned to take advantage of the opportunity to clear out the Grass Village's forces and thoroughly plow through the Land of Grass in order to find the Chest of Bliss.

(End of this chapter)